The Malawi Government is caught up in a migration dilemma.
While the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) yesterday declared that Capital Hill is overwhelmed with logistics to bring back nationals displaced by xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services said about 1 000 Malawians are still trekking down south weekly.
Dodma Commissioner Wilson Moleni in an interview said there is an increase in the number of Malawians seeking assistance to be ferried home from South Africa from 3 000 last week to 7 000 now.
He said the government initially planned to repatriate about 600 Malawians, but the figures continued rising.
Said Moleni: “We hired about 55 buses when the figure was about 3 000, but now we are heading to 7 000. It means we need more buses and more other resources.
“The figure is now too much. We are appealing for assistance. People shouldn’t leave government alone to repatriate its citizens.”
In the circumstances, he said government will prioritise vulnerable groups such as the elderly, people with disabilities, the sick, women and children. He also encouraged those with capacity to find their own means to do so.
Yesterday, South African media reported that the number of Malawians camping at Sherwood Hall in Durban, South Africa has risen sharply from about 2 500 on Thursday to 7 000 on Sunday. The Nation yesterday could not independently verify the numbers, but South African media reports indicated that the centre is hosting different nationalities of whom Malawians are in majority.
While the government is grappling to bring its ejected citizens, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services spokesperson Pasqually Zulu said in an interview last evening that about 1 000 Malawians are still travelling to South Africa every week.
He said that while the weekly figure has dropped from 4 000 before the resurgence of xenophobic attacks, it was worrisome that some Malawians are still leaving the country for greener pastures in the Rainbow Nation despite the tense situation.
Malawi Consul General in Johannesburg Fraser Nkhoma told South Africa’s News Central Television on Sunday night that about 7 000 Malawians were camping outside Sherwood Hall in Durban, while others remained stranded in other provinces, including Western Cape and Eastern Cape.
He said many Malawians had stopped reporting for work due to fears of attacks, leaving them without income to support themselves.
“Since the anti-migrant attacks started, most of these people wherever they were working—be domestic jobs, farms or shops, they are no longer going there. Meaning that they don’t have money for their well-being,” said Nkhoma.
Last week, Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi said government had hired about 55 buses to repatriate Malawians stranded in South Africa.
When asked on the status of the buses, Moleni yesterday said they hired them from Enkosi, Business Logistics and Ulemu bus companies and that some have already started transporting returnees.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued yesterday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said about 645 Malawians left Sherwood Town Hall in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal yesterday and are expected to arrive tomorrow through Mwanza Border Post.
Thereafter the returnees will proceed to Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre for screening before travelling to their respective destinations.
At Sherwood Hall, the ejected Malawians have lamented conditions there, saying they continue worsening as more Malawians arrive.
In an interview yesterday, Bwanali Kasimu from Mangochi said the situation was becoming difficult every day due to the growing number of people seeking shelter.
Imran Chipire from Zomba said he never expected to become a target because he married a South African woman.
He said some South African neighbours warned him that he was also at risk despite having a South African family.
“I have no choice but to leave my wife and children here and go back home to Malawi,” he said.
Last week, the Malawi Government repatriated the first group of 150 returnees who entered the country through Mwanza Border.
